Transformers: The Last Knight Score by Steve Jablonsky Now on iTunes and Spotify

I'm not saying anything here, but I'm just saying that Seibertrons' completely objective review was that there were a number of good things, and the bad thing about the movie was that he saw it in 3D.

Deadput wrote:

77Prime84 wrote:
In my opinion, the best iteration of TF ever was TF: Prime.

The story was only relic hunts with relics that were mostly never used or spoken of again besides the season premiers and finales, there was no character development since either people forget all their progress (Arcee) or their killed off because the writers couldn't do squat with them (Breakdown, Dreadwing) and the show was hardly emotional especially since it hardly left the status quo and the stakes were never high even with Unicron involved.

The situation you're describing is nothing at all like the Cube or the Matrix or the Space Bridge from the first, second or third movies, or any of the various characters who show up on screen and then disappear without any development at all like Brawl or Blackout or Jolt or Grindor or Ravage or Demolisher or the other Constructicons or Barracade prior to TLK or the Dinobots in AOE or the construction vehicle guy in the junkyard or Megatrons' gang or Infernocus in TLK.

dragons wrote:I went as fan of movies and as fan of transformers could be worse we get two movies like gijoe end of movies and we all we have to talk about comics, toys games tv shows and convention news before movies came along and transformers was not as popular back then then they are now

We are on the same wavelength here. Went in as a Transformers fan, came out as one. Enjoyed it for what it is, acknowledges that it is no where near perfect, but still enjoyed it as a fan anyway. Went and saw it again tonight. Will post some additional thoughts over in the TLK thread.

And also, are we really saying that since Seibertron got to go to the red carpet release and got to hang out with everyone there, that they are making him or he is choosing to suck up to them by writing it was good? Are we really that sour? Seibertron's post basically said the same thing that several other members said, with good and bad mixed in and his take on it. Is it really hard to believe those are actual thoughts?

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

dragons wrote:I went as fan of movies and as fan of transformers could be worse we get two movies like gijoe end of movies and we all we have to talk about comics, toys games tv shows and convention news before movies came along and transformers was not as popular back then then they are now

We are on the same wavelength here. Went in as a Transformers fan, came out as one. Enjoyed it for what it is, acknowledges that it is no where near perfect, but still enjoyed it as a fan anyway. Went and saw it again tonight. Will post some additional thoughts over in the TLK thread.

And also, are we really saying that since Seibertron got to go to the red carpet release and got to hang out with everyone there, that they are making him or he is choosing to suck up to them by writing it was good? Are we really that sour? Seibertron's post basically said the same thing that several other members said, with good and bad mixed in and his take on it. Is it really hard to believe those are actual thoughts?

For the record, in case and before this turns into a real thing, that's not what I was saying, or was even suggesting. My comment was that the criticism of the movie was not a thing of the movie, but of the format it was seen in. If I'm lactose intolerant and I go to a pizza place and can't eat the pizza, and then use that as my criticism of the establishment, I'm not actually critiquing the food, but rather its format. Saying the 3D bothers you doesn't actually make any statement on the movie, but on the 3D itself. That's all I was saying.

Dagon wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

dragons wrote:I went as fan of movies and as fan of transformers could be worse we get two movies like gijoe end of movies and we all we have to talk about comics, toys games tv shows and convention news before movies came along and transformers was not as popular back then then they are now

We are on the same wavelength here. Went in as a Transformers fan, came out as one. Enjoyed it for what it is, acknowledges that it is no where near perfect, but still enjoyed it as a fan anyway. Went and saw it again tonight. Will post some additional thoughts over in the TLK thread.

And also, are we really saying that since Seibertron got to go to the red carpet release and got to hang out with everyone there, that they are making him or he is choosing to suck up to them by writing it was good? Are we really that sour? Seibertron's post basically said the same thing that several other members said, with good and bad mixed in and his take on it. Is it really hard to believe those are actual thoughts?

For the record, in case and before this turns into a real thing, that's not what I was saying, or was even suggesting. My comment was that the criticism of the movie was not a thing of the movie, but of the format it was seen in. If I'm lactose intolerant and I go to a pizza place and can't eat the pizza, and then use that as my criticism of the establishment, I'm not actually critiquing the food, but rather its format. Saying the 3D bothers you doesn't actually make any statement on the movie, but on the 3D itself. That's all I was saying.

OK. Well we already had people start saying it, so I wanted to make that clear. It also seemed liked you were glossing over his whole paragraph about the bad things, that was followed by a paragraph about not liking 3D. Just so you see how I saw this and how I don't want this to be a thing nor do I believe you were making it a thing

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Dagon wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

dragons wrote:I went as fan of movies and as fan of transformers could be worse we get two movies like gijoe end of movies and we all we have to talk about comics, toys games tv shows and convention news before movies came along and transformers was not as popular back then then they are now

We are on the same wavelength here. Went in as a Transformers fan, came out as one. Enjoyed it for what it is, acknowledges that it is no where near perfect, but still enjoyed it as a fan anyway. Went and saw it again tonight. Will post some additional thoughts over in the TLK thread.

And also, are we really saying that since Seibertron got to go to the red carpet release and got to hang out with everyone there, that they are making him or he is choosing to suck up to them by writing it was good? Are we really that sour? Seibertron's post basically said the same thing that several other members said, with good and bad mixed in and his take on it. Is it really hard to believe those are actual thoughts?

For the record, in case and before this turns into a real thing, that's not what I was saying, or was even suggesting. My comment was that the criticism of the movie was not a thing of the movie, but of the format it was seen in. If I'm lactose intolerant and I go to a pizza place and can't eat the pizza, and then use that as my criticism of the establishment, I'm not actually critiquing the food, but rather its format. Saying the 3D bothers you doesn't actually make any statement on the movie, but on the 3D itself. That's all I was saying.

OK. Well we already had people start saying it, so I wanted to make that clear. It also seemed liked you were glossing over his whole paragraph about the bad things, that was followed by a paragraph about not liking 3D. Just so you see how I saw this and how I don't want this to be a thing nor do I believe you were making it a thing

I also wasn't the first person to say anything related to it, nor did I make any accusations. If we're going to do this "I'm not saying you said, but it seems like you said but I know you didn't" we might as well be accurate with it.

Seibertron wrote:

77Prime84 wrote:When will Hasbro get this?

Hasbro gets it (or at least the Transformers brand team definitely does), or else we wouldn't have Transformers Prime, Transformers Animated, or other examples (though I might argue that some of the greatest Transformers stories of all time are stories where they had outside help such as the G1 cartoons and comics and Beast Wars, though not all of it, which bears some resemblance to how things were initially setup with Paramount). The movies and their stories are out of their hands if I understand everything correctly. I'm assuming that it's similar to Marvel with FOX. Hasbro handed over most of their rights for control of the Transformers films (if I'm wording this incorrectly, someone please advise immediately) over to Paramount and Michael Bay waaaay back in 2001/2002 when these deals were originally made.

But I assure you, Hasbro (or at least the brand team) gets it! Promise!!!

I updated this post to clarify a few of my earlier thoughts which I wrote in haste. To summarize the changes, Hasbro gets it or at least the Transformers brand team definitely gets it. Promise!

I can't help but wonder if the writers of the movies had followed in the vein of Beast Wars or Prime and consistently used only 4 or 5 characters from each side in addition to the humans would the movies have had at least a less cluttered and better flowing story? It kinda worked with the 1st film as the TF cast was kept small, but then starting with RoTF they just threw random additional characters in.

So after seeing a press screening by myself on Monday and attending the US Premiere here in Chicago with my wife (and found out later that night at the after party that we sat in the same row with the Transformers brand team), my wife and I took our daughters (8 years old and 2.5), my daughter's buddy next door (who's 9), my buddy Ben/Shadowbeast from our forums, and my wife's cousin and her husband and their 5 year old son to go to a 2D showing at Muvico in Rosemont (for those of you familiar with my area, it's the movie theater near where TFcon Chicago was located).

2D is definitely the way to go for me. I was able to be immersed in the movie at last, which was enjoyable. The audio, which had been ear blowing at the first 2 showings I attended, was at a much more tolerable level ... and surprise! Thanks to that I could finally understand what each and every Transformer said very clearly, including the Knights at the beginning (which I swore one of the podcast guys said during our recording the other night that I couldn't understand them because they were speaking Celtic, which I didn't catch at all tonight because I could actually hear them, and could understand all of the "deep" talking Transformers, including Canopy. It was wonderful, plus I caught various things that the humans said as well that I had missed because of the blaring audio at the first two showings.

For any of you who have issues with focusing on the 3D initially or just find it frustrating to watch, I did some reading just now about 3D viewing with astigmatism. I have a very slight astigmatism which causes me to have 25/20 vision or something along those lines (things further away are visible but need to be sharpened, much like you would an image on a computer in Photoshop). After reading these articles for the past 30 minutes, maybe it's time for me to make a trip to an optometrist regarding my poor 3D viewing experiences.

https://www.google.com/#q=eye+%22astigm ... +3d+movies

With that aside, I still enjoyed the movie. And I enjoyed it for what it was, the good and the bad. It's not a perfect movie, nor did I ever expect it to be (especially as a die-hard Transformers fan). But it is definitely an enjoyable movie. I liked The Last Knight in the same vein that I liked the first movie, Revenge of the Fallen, Dark of the Moon, and Age of Extinction. They all had their flaws, but there were things that I enjoyed watching in all of them as well.

One thing I caught during tonight's viewing (though I still didn't catch Scorn or Strafe if they're actually there in the Junkyard), was how you have to really pay attention to the fast moving dialogue during key scenes. Michael Bay's films have a habit of tossing in a very important line of dialogue about something that is happening, needs to happen, or will happen and if you miss that line, you won't know what's going on next. This also happens with visual cues where someone might grab something or do something quickly that you might miss while your eyes are focused elsewhere on the screen. Some of you will mock this line, but if you really want to follow the storyline, I think you really have to pay extreme attention to every line of dialogue and try to catch as much as you can. One could argue that you shouldn't have to work that hard to catch those things, but another might argue that it's his "art form" of sorts (or his style). I'm torn about how I feel about that because it's obvious to me that the film style is deliberate (but unfortunately is lost even on myself at times). It always intrigues me when I rewatch the previous Transformers films and I catch things that I've never caught before even though I've seen each of these movies dozens and dozens of times (with the exception of AOE which is probably only around a half dozen times or so). I can't remember what was said tonight that I caught, but I think it was something during the submarine "Transformer" jumping its moorings scene.

If any of you have doubts about whether or not my opinions have been compromised with this whole amazing experience with the Transformers films over the course of the past 10 years (especially with these incredible Last Knight experiences), I have gained an entire new appreciation for the art of Hollywood film making during the past year. The endless hours and tedious work and attention to detail that goes on behind the scenes to make a movie like Transformers The Last Knight is mind blowing.

One of the things that I constantly think about pertaining to this film, that didn't initially impress me at the time, was seeing a group of 4 or 5 people, "seamstresses" if you will, working on sewing parts of the "barbarian" warrior costumes. They told us that they were working on costumes for 300 to 400 warriors (if I recall correctly). At the time, it was all lost on me because I didn't care about seeing costumes being made from the era of 400 AD, especially when I was there to see them working on a Transformers movie. I had no frame of reference at the time. No story line to understand the relevance, nor had any movie trailers been released when I was seeing this. However, in retrospect, it might have been one of the coolest things I had seen, along with the massive sets for the underwater ship scene, Merlin's tomb and (if I'm remembering this correctly) Cybertron (Quintessa's throne room?). I was amazed that they would spend the amount of time and money to make that many costumes for that many actors instead of just CGI'ing them, and I was amazed that they built out those sets for that ship underwater including several of the knights and those tendrils hanging from the ceiling. I actually got to see a massive Cybertron set that was built out for the most part. Basically everything you see the actors interacting with during those scenes, walking on, etc, was all "real".

Regardless of whether or not I agree with Michael Bay's vision, I absolutely respect the man's talents and skills. I have seen him work on 3 of these films now, TLK being the most and closest I've seen him working after seeing him directing for part of a day last year and seeing him show us some stuff in his office in Santa Monica. I doubt many directors work harder than Michael Bay. Again, this is regardless of how you feel about his final products. This is just talking about that the man is extremely passionate about his work as a director and his vision. He works his ass off and he is an amazing professional at one he does.

To bring this back down to every day Transformers stuff in our world, for those of you who are familiar with Transformers UK writer Simon Furman, my thoughts about Furman's writings is similar to what I think about Michael Bay's directing. However, I feel like Furman has done some of his best work when he is confined and has to figure out how to work within the box. Some of less beloved work of Furman (Simon, if you happen to be reading this ... you are absolutely awesome, I love most of your comics, I've enjoyed drinking some beers with you and other fond memories, so no offense!) is when Simon has been left to his own devices with the Transformers stories. I think Michael Bay needs to have some higher ups who can confine and rein him in a bit. But at the same time, especially in his 50s, I doubt Michael Bay would want to be directed so we'll probably never see that happen.

So I'm kind of rambling here, which I have done on my own forums for quite some time. I love good debates about movies and I appreciate my buddy philswitch_engage calling me out so I can defend myself. Here's to that next beer my friend!

Rodimus Prime wrote:I can't help but wonder if the writers of the movies had followed in the vein of Beast Wars or Prime and consistently used only 4 or 5 characters from each side in addition to the humans would the movies have had at least a less cluttered and better flowing story? It kinda worked with the 1st film as the TF cast was kept small, but then starting with RoTF they just threw random additional characters in.

I think it would have been great if the movies had had a core group from the 1st film. However, the main Autobots evolved. It was really jarring to me with Age of Extinction, which I'm assuming is part of the reason why AOE is my least favorite of the 5. It was too much new at one time. It was nice to see the AOE Autobots return, sans a couple of Dinobots, to TLK, and that everyone survived.

Man, I keep typing things I want to say in response, but keep contradicting myself, so I keep deleting lines.

I want the additional characters, but sometimes characters can just stay in the background. No need for them to get a lot of screen time. However, if someone like "Hot Rod" is going to get a decent amount of screen time, then they should be fleshed out a bit as a character. I really don't get the point of Hot Rod other than as a plot device to literally bring Vivian into Cade's story, add a little bit of humor to the screen (some of which was funny, some not) and to be a plot device with his slowing time down power (which I could've completely done with out).

However, I'm going to contradict myself a little bit here that with Cade saying to Mini-Grimlock (?) that he's coming into his powers, I can't help but like the idea if they start introducing special powers for some of the Transformers. I really liked that with the original G1 cast with characters like Hound, Mirage, Skywarp, Soundwave, etc. Maybe with the acknowledgement of "magic" and advanced alien capabilities, maybe Transformers with special abilities going forward won't be such an odd thing. That could be a very awesome thing for the film franchise.

Initial reports for the Transformers: The Last Knight box office numbers are starting to roll in, looking at China, but also the likes of Australia, Korea, Russia, Indoesia and a number of European scenes (bar the UK). Check out more information here and below!

Rolling out in 41 overseas markets this weekend, Paramount’s Transformers: The Last Knight has clocked an estimated $85M through Friday, according to the studio. That includes $47.9M (RMB 330.76M) from China which, in that market, is 69% above Transformers: Age Of Extinction’s June 27, 2014 bow in local currency. Par puts the opening day for Last Knight at No. 3 for an import ever in the Middle Kingdom (including Thursday’s midnight shows). The debut sets the film on track for a $100M+ weekend launch there.

Elsewhere, the $37.1M made up in other markets appears to be a mix of some Thursday openings (Korea) and those markets that bowed today, although it was not clear on how they break down in all cases.

The 5th installment in the $3.8B worldwide grossing franchise, and Michael Bay’s last turn at the helm, hit Korea with $2M in previews on Wednesday, followed by $1.4M from 1,711 screens on Thursday and $1.9M today. That lifts the cume there to $5.3M through Friday. Korea on the last Transformers was ultimately the No.3 market.

In 2014, Transformers 4’s first China day came in around $30M. That film was made under a co-operation agreement and shot locally. Transformers 5 has a local marketing partner in Wanda (owner of the most screens in the Middle Kingdom) with Weying Technology and Huahua also investing. Bay and the team traveled last week to a premiere in Guangzhou. Chinese singer Jason Zhang, who performed a promotional song for the film, was also in attendance.

All markets reporting (which does not include the UK) came in at No. 1. Rounding out the Top 10 bows after China and Korea through Friday are Russia at $2.8M on 2,460 screens, followed by Indonesia with $1.1M from 255 dates for the biggest Paramount launch day ever (the cume is $2.3M so far); Malaysia ($845K at 145 dates); Australia (2-day total $1.5M); Germany ($978K including previews on 828 screens); the Philippines with $919K on 503; Thailand at $715K including previews; and Hong Kong at $504K after Day 1 at No. 1.

The Last Knight is bypassing such markets as France and Spain this week, as well as waiting for Latin America to rumble with Bumblebee later on the calendar.

This was the case for AoE, right? I don't have the proof to back it up, but I mildly remember a family member telling me that AoE did better internationally than in the US.

Also, I have to wait for my hometown theater to get the movie in. As a deep fan of the franchise (the movies being my gateway into the awesomeness that is Transformers) is TLK worth the five dollar ticket? I'll probably go regardless, but I am curious to know.

Nexus Knight wrote:This was the case for AoE, right? I don't have the proof to back it up, but I mildly remember a family member telling me that AoE did better internationally than in the US.

Also, I have to wait for my hometown theater to get the movie in. As a deep fan of the franchise (the movies being my gateway into the awesomeness that is Transformers) is TLK worth the five dollar ticket? I'll probably go regardless, but I am curious to know.

Yep, it performed reaaaally well in China. In which it makes AOE broke box office record in China at that time. (until Fast&Furious 7 take that spot)

I watched TLK with my brothers 2 days ago and while I would say that it have some flaws (too many unnecessary humans scenes, forced romance) it worth all the money for the amazing visuals and actions. also, Anthony Hopkins and Cogman was really entertaining.

Hot Rod was also with Bee in the WWII scene. If I remember right, when Hot Rod was 1st mentioned like 2 years ago they said he would act as Bee's big brother. But I guess they didn't elaborate on that. I was worried they would totally waste him as a character but after Cogman and Burton he's my 3rd favorite. He just needs more screen time.

Also, is it just me or did Optimus get the most cringeworthy lines in the entire movie?

Ryuki wrote:

Nexus Knight wrote:This was the case for AoE, right? I don't have the proof to back it up, but I mildly remember a family member telling me that AoE did better internationally than in the US.

Also, I have to wait for my hometown theater to get the movie in. As a deep fan of the franchise (the movies being my gateway into the awesomeness that is Transformers) is TLK worth the five dollar ticket? I'll probably go regardless, but I am curious to know.

Yep, it performed reaaaally well in China. In which it makes AOE broke box office record in China at that time. (until Fast&Furious 7 take that spot)

I watched TLK with my brothers 2 days ago and while I would say that it have some flaws (too many unnecessary humans scenes, forced romance) it worth all the money for the amazing visuals and actions. also, Anthony Hopkins and Cogman was really entertaining.

Thank you! I'll be going with my brother as soon as we get in theaters... Which will be the next two or three weeks...

Nexus Knight wrote:This was the case for AoE, right? I don't have the proof to back it up, but I mildly remember a family member telling me that AoE did better internationally than in the US.

Also, I have to wait for my hometown theater to get the movie in. As a deep fan of the franchise (the movies being my gateway into the awesomeness that is Transformers) is TLK worth the five dollar ticket? I'll probably go regardless, but I am curious to know.

$5 a ticket? We only get that at some older theaters around the northwest suburbs of Chicago on Tuesdays, and not at the nice theaters with the stadium style seating. We paid $12 each for adult tickets last night (5 adults total in our group) and $9 each for 3 kids ages 5 and up and my 2 year old daughter got in free.

Definitely worth $5 a ticket or more! $5 is a steal to see a brand new blockbuster movie.

Seibertron wrote:

Nexus Knight wrote:Also, I have to wait for my hometown theater to get the movie in. As a deep fan of the franchise (the movies being my gateway into the awesomeness that is Transformers) is TLK worth the five dollar ticket? I'll probably go regardless, but I am curious to know.

$5 a ticket? We only get that at some older theaters around the northwest suburbs of Chicago on Tuesdays, and not at the nice theaters with the stadium style seating. We paid $12 each for adult tickets last night (5 adults total in our group) and $9 each for 3 kids ages 5 and up and my 2 year old daughter got in free.

Definitely worth $5 a ticket or more! $5 is a steal to see a brand new blockbuster movie.

And kids under six, I believe, get in free. There is (or was) a theater in Tulsa (a forty five minute drive from me) that had tickets cheaper. Oklahoma is a pretty great place to live. Only sucky part is, it's hard to find current toys at the local Wal-Mart. We were getting Titans Return wave one w/ Combiner Wars wave 3.

Haven't been on for a while due to college work and stress in my family lately, but I have been able to watch The Last Knight to get some worries off of my head for a while.

I'll be honest and say most reviews seem to go overboard with the bashing with this film. As a movie goer, I can't really agree with them saying that it's the worst film of the year *cough* Fifty Shades Darker *cough*, but as a Transformers fan who grew up with the franchise thanks to Cybertron and the first movie, I can't help but feel that it lacks what I enjoyed from the original trilogy (even ROTF, for some of it's problems, felt like a sequel that fit in with the continuity compared to AOE/TLK); it's like after DOTM, the newer films don't know what to achieve. I don't hate them both, but I feel that if they were made a bit smoother for both fans who saw the older movies and wondered what happened in between 3 and 4 and newcomers who probably haven't seen the previous movies before, then I could like them a bit more; plus, it gets really confusing when some characters return while others don't, not to mention the Dinobots added less to the movie than in AOE.

What I did like though was the medieval theme (though it did make the whole timeline confusing even if there were so many retcons), a corrupt Optimus Prime being under the control of Quintessa, some of the new characters and having them do more than I thought they would, Isabella was pretty refreshing compared to most young actresses, the return of Lennox and Simmons (though it sucks that Epps didn't get to return), seeing actual Megatron and Decepticons compared to Galvatron and his KSI drones (though the Decepticons are kind of like henchmen in comparison to the first movie's Cons IMO), and the action feels a bit more grounded than the previous movie.

So The Last Knight may not be the best movie ever, but it's in no way as terrible as most made it out to be. However, I will probably be sticking with the older movies I already have. It's fine if Paramount and Hasbro wants to continue with the story after The Last Knight, but I kind of wish the Bumblebee prequel could be the final movie so we can go back full circle with Transformers. I don't want to see the characters return on Earth for the third time, though bringing in new characters who have never been on Earth before while being guided by at least one or two of the old characters back as mentors (Hot Rod and Bee for example) could work.

I think taking a break while thinking of a reboot should be a good idea, especially after the franchise is now 10 years old; and should a reboot be in the works, I hope it takes elements from lesser known franchises and that the chatacter designs aren't straight rehashes of the G1 forms (I'v actually thought of a fire turck Optimus, Prowl being a mix of RID and Animated, Red Alert being the medic, and Blitzwing being in the Starscream role as he is under the shadow of Megatron and Starscream).

The whole point of this movie is just to try and explain why the same story being has been told repeatedly in the other movies.

Seibertron wrote:

77Prime84 wrote:When will Hasbro get this?

Hasbro gets it (or at least the Transformers brand team definitely does), or else we wouldn't have Transformers Prime, Transformers Animated, or other examples (though I might argue that some of the greatest Transformers stories of all time are stories where they had outside help such as the G1 cartoons and comics and Beast Wars, though not all of it, which bears some resemblance to how things were initially setup with Paramount). The movies and their stories are out of their hands if I understand everything correctly. I'm assuming that it's similar to Marvel with FOX. Hasbro handed over most of their rights for control of the Transformers films (if I'm wording this incorrectly, someone please advise immediately) over to Paramount and Michael Bay waaaay back in 2001/2002 when these deals were originally made.

But I assure you, Hasbro (or at least the brand team) gets it! Promise!!!

That IS reassuring, and thanks for the clarification. I was unaware of how the 'chain of command' worked! Interesting!

Quantum Surge wrote:I'll be honest and say most reviews seem to go overboard with the bashing with this film.

It's always been like that. Most of the hate these movies get is spawned from clickbait BS.

The Hollywood Reporter has published a new interview, this time with Jerrod Carmichael, who plays Jimmy in Transformers: The Last Knight. During the interview, Jerrod talks about how The Last Knight was a big learning experience, as he actually had to change a joke he had created because it would not translate well in other languages. He also talks about how money is a factor in bringing actors together, but how having the fun they did on set was also a good way to bring them together. He also refers to Sir Anthony Hopkins as "C-Hop" and Hopkins actually responds to it. Check out the full interview by following the link above, and catch a few snippets below.

118-degree heat in Arizona sounds like a pretty rough first day.

But it was nice because sometimes you feel so sterile in these sound stages, just standing around and holding green tea. We were sweating and running and it felt like a real experience. And Michael Bay is such a hands-on director — he’s sprinkling dirt on people’s faces and handling the smoke machine and the camera and the lights.

.....

Was there anything that you weren’t expecting about blockbuster filmmaking?

Running was a surprise. It was a great deal of running — and I mean long-distance running. Because there are helicopters capturing [the scene]. We are outside of Stonehenge and Mike’s on a bullhorn like "I need you run from over here to over there." And that’s just take one so he goes "Okay, do it again!" It’s truthfully the most I ever worked out before in my life.

.....

Has seeing Michael Bay at work inspired you to try filmmaking yourself?

Filmmaking is unique in that you craft everything around it — the lighting, the dialogue, the scenery, the perspective — and I’m infatuated with that now and it’s where a lot of my attention has been as of late. I think that now more than ever you have to be cautious of doing something because you can versus doing something because you can contribute to it. I am still figuring out exactly how I can contribute, as a director. But I want to make sure that in doing it it’s not just because I could, because that is not a good enough reason. You owe audiences more than that.

Rodimus Prime wrote:Also, is it just me or did Optimus get the most cringeworthy lines in the entire movie?

His lines were pretty cringeworthy. But I found Nitro Zeus had some cringeworthy ones too (sleeping with your wife, wtf?!) as well as Mark Wahlberg and some of the young boys.

Sooo... what's up all. New to the forum. Longtime reader, just never joined. Lifelong TF fan. Decade-long lover of the TF movies, while at the same time pulling my hair out about them for many of the very reasons often discussed.

So... Megatron. Was essentially a chemistry experiment in AoE. Basically a brain in the jar, somehow used to power a remote control robot named Galvatron. Wasn't killed in that movie. Shows up in this movie as Megatron... again.

Did I miss an explanation offered up in TLK about how the hell that lil transition happened, or were we just supposed to write that significant part of the story for ourselves as we watched? Just making sure I didn't miss something, or if this was yet another unconnected dot in the TF series.

TheDen wrote:Did I miss an explanation offered up in TLK about how the hell that lil transition happened, or were we just supposed to write that significant part of the story for ourselves as we watched? Just making sure I didn't miss something, or if this was yet another unconnected dot in the TF series.

It is yet another unconnected dot in the TF series. But thanks for joining the site, feel free to discuss the parts you did like about the film (or disliked)

So, remember when Bay got some deserved flak for redecoing Winston Churchill's home in Nazi regalia and he said "wait til you see the movie to reserve judgement, Churchill is actually a big hero in the movie"?

Yeah, it was exactly as tasteless as the fandom thought it would be and Churchill barely even got a namedrop.

TheDen wrote:Sooo... what's up all. New to the forum. Longtime reader, just never joined. Lifelong TF fan. Decade-long lover of the TF movies, while at the same time pulling my hair out about them for many of the very reasons often discussed.

So... Megatron. Was essentially a chemistry experiment in AoE. Basically a brain in the jar, somehow used to power a remote control robot named Galvatron. Wasn't killed in that movie. Shows up in this movie as Megatron... again.

Did I miss an explanation offered up in TLK about how the hell that lil transition happened, or were we just supposed to write that significant part of the story for ourselves as we watched? Just making sure I didn't miss something, or if this was yet another unconnected dot in the TF series.

They said Megatron had been gone for a while in between AOE and TLK. And in the movie, he has that red Quintessa mark on his face. I'm assuming she got in contact with him and gave him his identity back.

Which, in essence, confirms they left it to you to fill in the plot holes yourself.

JazZeke wrote:So, remember when Bay got some deserved flak for redecoing Winston Churchill's home in Nazi regalia and he said "wait til you see the movie to reserve judgement, Churchill is actually a big hero in the movie"?

Yeah, it was exactly as tasteless as the fandom thought it would be and Churchill barely even got a namedrop.

There's nothing wrong with what he did at all.

SlyTF1 wrote:

JazZeke wrote:So, remember when Bay got some deserved flak for redecoing Winston Churchill's home in Nazi regalia and he said "wait til you see the movie to reserve judgement, Churchill is actually a big hero in the movie"?

Yeah, it was exactly as tasteless as the fandom thought it would be and Churchill barely even got a namedrop.

There's nothing wrong with what he did at all.

So you don't think there's anything wrong with decorating the home of one of Britain's most respected leaders with the iconography of his hated enemies, an iconography representative and hatred and genocide?

Think very carefully before you answer.

Just a reminder to you guys that opinions will be different as everyone has his/her own perspective. Even though you may not agree, be respectful toward each other.

Actually since watching the movie.....i didn't think it was as bad as some were making it out to be

YES! it wasn't any better nor worse than the previous ones

YES! some action scenes did feel very cluttered

YES! some characters in it appeared in some parts of the film & disappeared for great chunks of the movie before briefly returning! or other characters (that you wanted!) didn't have enough screentime

YES! there were some TF's that we never saw their transformations....or transformed at allCogman's Headmaster gimmick was never shown(thank heavens for the toys...or at least the DLX or Voy Class fig) in the film...prob cut?...& if so! it'll no doubt turn up in the deleted scenes on the Blu Ray, we never saw Onslaught's alt mode! even though we saw pics of it in the run up to the movie! in fact...he was barely in the movie & he got offed!

& YES! the whole UNICRON thing! which is obvious by now...been inspired by TF Prime & is obviously a set up for a future movie(TF 6?) & prob more about that character!(although a bit pissed off that they release a PRIMUS repaint! but NO....UNICRON repainted figure? at least for this movieline! even though we got a recent Platinum Edition one....but...maybe they're holding off on a movieline repainted figure for Transformers 6? or whatever?

JazZeke wrote:

SlyTF1 wrote:

JazZeke wrote:So, remember when Bay got some deserved flak for redecoing Winston Churchill's home in Nazi regalia and he said "wait til you see the movie to reserve judgement, Churchill is actually a big hero in the movie"?

Yeah, it was exactly as tasteless as the fandom thought it would be and Churchill barely even got a namedrop.

There's nothing wrong with what he did at all.

So you don't think there's anything wrong with decorating the home of one of Britain's most respected leaders with the iconography of his hated enemies, an iconography representative and hatred and genocide?

Nope.

It depends entirely on the context.

SlyTF1 wrote:

JazZeke wrote:

SlyTF1 wrote:

JazZeke wrote:So, remember when Bay got some deserved flak for redecoing Winston Churchill's home in Nazi regalia and he said "wait til you see the movie to reserve judgement, Churchill is actually a big hero in the movie"?

Yeah, it was exactly as tasteless as the fandom thought it would be and Churchill barely even got a namedrop.

There's nothing wrong with what he did at all.

So you don't think there's anything wrong with decorating the home of one of Britain's most respected leaders with the iconography of his hated enemies, an iconography representative and hatred and genocide?

Nope.

It depends entirely on the context.

And the context is: There were plenty other old mansions Bay could have used. Why, specifically, did he choose to drape Nazi iconography all over the home of a man whose greatest achievement was contributing to their defeat?

...somewhat off topic, I know, but I'll be seeing the movie tonight. I'll share my thoughts (as well as those of my parents) afterward in the spoiler thread!

Sigma Magnus wrote:...somewhat off topic, I know, but I'll be seeing the movie tonight. I'll share my thoughts (as well as those of my parents) afterward in the spoiler thread!

Good, now while you watch it, if you dont mind, please check how the talisman is actually linked to the mcguffin and what it does. And then report back. Because I am pretty sure the talisman has nothing to do with the actual main plot of the movie but it would be fun to have someone back me up on it with the movie fresh in their minds.

william-james88 wrote:

Sigma Magnus wrote:...somewhat off topic, I know, but I'll be seeing the movie tonight. I'll share my thoughts (as well as those of my parents) afterward in the spoiler thread!

Good, now while you watch it, if you dont mind, please check how the talisman is actually linked to the mcguffin and what it does. And then report back. Because I am pretty sure the talisman has nothing to do with the actual main plot of the movie but it would be fun to have someone back me up on it with the movie fresh in their minds.

I have a theory they're setting up Cade to become the Rom: Spaceknight of the "Hasbro Cinematic Batnipple Universe."

Given the reaction to Transformers: The Last Knight's robotic star Cogman, here's some news on the voice behind the bot: Jim Carter! Also known for his role in Downton Abbey, Carter was interviewed by YouTube channel HeyUGuys at the London premiere (images here and footage on Chicago here), and talks about his experience on set with Michael Bay and Anthony Hopkins. Check out the video below, and join the conversation in the Energon Pub!

william-james88 wrote:

Sigma Magnus wrote:...somewhat off topic, I know, but I'll be seeing the movie tonight. I'll share my thoughts (as well as those of my parents) afterward in the spoiler thread!

Good, now while you watch it, if you dont mind, please check how the talisman is actually linked to the mcguffin and what it does. And then report back. Because I am pretty sure the talisman has nothing to do with the actual main plot of the movie but it would be fun to have someone back me up on it with the movie fresh in their minds.

In the car on the way home. They needed the Talisman to open the Knight's ship, to get to Merlin's tomb and the Staff.

The weekend is practically over for most of the globe now, and after the initial reports from the international box office, we have some more news on the performance of Transformers: The Last Knight outside of the US! According to a number of sources, including Wall Street Journal and Deadline, the international opening was extremely strong, making up to $196.2 million for the opening weekend!

The domestic $69 million comes with a positive counterpoint, as TLK is dominating at number 1 over competitor releases (see here) - as opposed to, say Australia, where it opened against Cars 3 and Despicable Me 3 from the previous week, all three movies opening and competing for the younger audiences (and the kid alive in most TF fans, one assumes) as they coincide with school holidays.

The Last Knight is currently the highest opening instalment for the franchise in China, and the 4th best ever for a movie in general; the bigger hits were then seen in Korea, Russia, UK and Germany. The trend noticed so far is pretty much in line with Age of Extinction worldwide, with some expected Sunday dips in screen attendance and tickets, but a stronger opening. Read more about it here and below - and if you've seen the movie and want to talk spoilers, head here to join the discussion!

Launching in 41 offshore markets, Paramount’s Transformers: The Last Knight opened to $196.2M at the international box office. That’s a big number and is towards the higher end of the pre-weekend range. But it’s also a swing from where we saw this coming in yesterday — partially the result of an unexpected 31% drop in China from Saturday to Sunday. The debut FSS cume there is $123.4M (63% of the full offshore bow). Factoring in domestic, the global total on The Last Knight is $265.3M.

[...]

But after China debuted bigger than some had expected, it began to look like T5 was moving across the $200M mark abroad to defy expectations. Then that market proved to be the wild card we often term it. Although the film lost no Middle Kingdom screens between Saturday and Sunday, the drop was bigger than we’ve recently seen — and daily growth was also soft in other hubs contrary to typical patterns on a movie that was teed up for overseas, and China in particular. China currently reps 63% of the full overseas total — with just 25% of Middle Kingdom receipts flowing back to the studio. The film cost a reported $217M before P&A.

Good to see it do well in its opening weekend, we'll see how it does on its 2nd weekend. I thought it was better than AoE and it was also shorter, so hopefully it will also break a billion dollars.

It would be nice to see Bay's final swing at the franchise do well, however flawed it may be. I enjoyed it, and clearly other people have too, so that's good enough for me.

Ohh that's Jim Carter! We're doing auditions for Brassed Off at moment and he's in the film of that. Awesome. Cogman lives!

This one is my favorite, I hope it does well.

Rodimus Prime wrote:Good to see it do well in its opening weekend, we'll see how it does on its 2nd weekend. I thought it was better than AoE and it was also shorter, so hopefully it will also break a billion dollars.

There is NO way this movie will make a billion. Many articles already pointed that out, because of the lowest domestic opening ever, it will hit the bottom quite hard in the second week. It will going up against Despicable 3, and WW is still doing great. Don't forget CARS 3 also. You Bayformers are holding on a thin straw of hope. This is the worse in the series and I enjoyed Age of Extinction. Not saying this will flop, but it will underperform below Paramount expectations. And it's about time.

As much as I have enjoyed this series for the visuals and effects -- those really have been next-level amazing since the first movie -- I can't help but feel like this series has been such a missed opportunity to make the most of it. Imagine those amazing visuals, coupled with stories that actually had continuity from 1 movie to the next, and didn't have gaping plot holes that often undermined the premise the prior movie set -- or even the SAME movie!

For example, why is it deemed necessary for each movie in this series to have a completely different premise for when the Transformers REALLY came to Earth?

- Movie 1: The Allspark happened to land on Earth & Megatron crash-landed in the Arctic in pursuit of it during Magellan years.

- Movie 2: The Transformers were here since the cave man days, when the Primes came snooping around for suns to blow up for Energon.

- Movie 3: A bunch of them landed on the moon in earlier years, not pinpointed really.

- Movie 4: They were here since the dinosaurs on pre-historic Earth.

- Movie 5: They were here since King Arthur.

I could see if these were just 5 standalone movies, set in different universes. But for the love of Christmas man, it's supposedly a SERIES that builds off the previous movie. So why have 5 different premises for when the Transformers REALLY came to Earth. Each new movie says "Eff what the last movie said".

Hell, ROTF actually disagreed with ITSELF. They established in Act I that Optimus had no idea who the Fallen was (Like, seriously? Optimus PRIME wouldn't know the history of his own Prime lineage, but Megatron would? Absurd), yet once he's resurrected at the end of the film, he knows everything about the guy ("They were your brothers too!"), when he hadn't a clue before. He was dead for the story Jetfire told the humans. So a major plot point in the movie was undermined by the very same movie, just 90 mins later.

Again, I'm just ranting because you cats are TF enthusiasts like me & probably share my pain. So my love for this franchise over the years causes me to have that passion about it. So much visual good in these films, in terms of larger-than-life cutting-edge visuals, to be undermined by such disjointed, botched story telling...

And it's as if you're not allowed to point obvious botches like these out, or else it means you're a "Nerdboy who can't enjoy a fun summer movie".... Bay's words, btw. I appreciate the visual/action work he did. But to me a director, with Final Cut powers, to be fine with stories not connecting & plots undermining themselves later in the very same films - that's not good & the fans shouldn't be blamed for noticing.

Just got back from seeing the movie. I LOVED it! full thoughts in the spoiler thread, but It's definitely one of my favorites. It had some flaws, like all movies do, but I thought it was great and I can't wait for the Bumblebee spin-off and the sequels!

much as i dislike bays take on the transformers (ive only really copped now that what he's basically done is give us five movies where grimlock is leading the autobots instead of prime. think bout it. the dialogue makes perfect sense if you substitute one character for the other )

i AM glad its doing so well at the cinema.

mainly because IMO its the best film since the first and im disgusted at the pile on by so called "professional critics" who've been flaming it from day one.

its obvious to everyone they were more intrested in trying to kill this franchise than do their job.

i reckon it'll break the billion mark as the states just isnt the important market it used to be. if it WAS we wouldnt be getting sequels to "warcraft" and "pacific rim" . so a decent run there (which i reckon word of mouth will provide) combined with a stellar rest of the world preformance will get the job done.

hell its already paid for its production budget. i reckon it'll recoup its marketing one by this weekend.

looking forward to 2019 and the first "bay-less" film.

partholon wrote:i reckon it'll break the billion mark as the states just isnt the important market it used to be. if it WAS we wouldn't be getting sequels to "warcraft" and "pacific rim" . so a decent run there (which i reckon word of mouth will provide) combined with a stellar rest of the world performance will get the job done.

hell its already paid for its production budget. i reckon it'll recoup its marketing one by this weekend.

looking forward to 2019 and the first "bay-less" film.

I doubt it will hit 1B unfortunately, also...Warcraft is getting a sequel?...

o.supreme wrote:

partholon wrote:i reckon it'll break the billion mark as the states just isnt the important market it used to be. if it WAS we wouldn't be getting sequels to "warcraft" and "pacific rim" . so a decent run there (which i reckon word of mouth will provide) combined with a stellar rest of the world performance will get the job done.

hell its already paid for its production budget. i reckon it'll recoup its marketing one by this weekend.

looking forward to 2019 and the first "bay-less" film.

I doubt it will hit 1B unfortunately, also...Warcraft is getting a sequel?...

The drop in the second week will make BVS pale in comparison. Many articles already predicts Last Knight will fall quite rock bottom next week at the box office.

o.supreme wrote:

partholon wrote:i reckon it'll break the billion mark as the states just isnt the important market it used to be. if it WAS we wouldn't be getting sequels to "warcraft" and "pacific rim" . so a decent run there (which i reckon word of mouth will provide) combined with a stellar rest of the world performance will get the job done.

hell its already paid for its production budget. i reckon it'll recoup its marketing one by this weekend.

looking forward to 2019 and the first "bay-less" film.

I doubt it will hit 1B unfortunately, also...Warcraft is getting a sequel?...

its looking like it

its "the most successful video game movie ever" raking in 433 mil worldwide on a 160mil budget.

believe it or not the main thing scuppering the prospect is "the mummy" and its like and the financial effect its having on universal.

so the sequel could end up being made for a china/asian audience by legendary (who are a wholey owned Chinese company now). its driving duncan jones nuts as he doesnt know if he's in or out.